Women's Water Polo

Bears Compete Against Nation's Top Teams at Aztec Invitational

Mar 22, 2009

March 22, 2009

San Diego, CA -
The Bears dropped its first three games to three teams ranked in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's top 20 during the Aztec Invitational hosted by San Diego State University this weekend. The Bears dropped an 11-7 decision to No. 6 California, fell 9-8 to No. 18 Indiana, and then fell 20-4 to No. 4 Hawaii.

In Brown's first game against Indians, the Bears took an immediate 1-0 lead in the opening minute of play after freshman Samantha Ryu (Santa Barbara, CA) put one past Indiana's Katie Carson in goal. But the Hoosiers struck back with a six on five goal to tie the game, and then tallied two goals in the final 1:45 of the period to gain a 3-1 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

Indiana increased its lead to 4-1 early in the second quarter, but the Bears clawed their way back with two power play goals by junior Sarah Glick (Bonita, CA) and junior Lauren Presant (Poway, CA) to close the game to one at halftime. Presant then notched a goal in the third quarter to tie the game at 4-4, but Indiana notched two more goals to take a 6-4 only to see Presant tally another with five seconds remaining to decrease Brown's deficit to one heading into the final period.

The Bears then tied the game up 6-6 on a power play, but the Hoosiers tallied another to take back the lead. Indiana notched another goal with 3:45 to play and scored its ninth goal with under three minutes to play. With a three-goal lead, Brown refused to back down and scored two late goals to make it a one goal deficit when the game ended.

Junior goalkeeper Stephanie Lang combined for six saves, as Presant led the Bears in scoring with five of Brown's eight goals. Also chipping in was Glick with two and Ryu with one.

Brown got off to a slow start against No. 6 California, as the squad posted three goals in the first and four in the second to gain a 7-1 lead over Bruno. But Brown outscored Cal, 3-2, in each of the final two periods of play, but Cal came out the winners, 11-7.

Sophomore Rita Bullwinkel (Portola Valley, CA) tallied the lone goal for Bruno in the first eight minutes of play, as sophomore Joanna Wohlmuth (Manhattan Beach, CA) came up with two and Glick scored one after the third quarter. Finishing off Brown's scoring in the final period was Glick, Bullwinkel and Presant as each tallied one goal.

The University of Hawaii showed why its ranked No. 4 in the CWPA after defeating the Bears, 20-4. After a Glick goal in the first eight minutes, the Rainbow Wahine led the Bears 3-1 and edged them out 9-1 by halftime. Hawaii recorded six more goals in the third period and five more in the fourth to secure the victory. Freshman Bethany Kwoka and Presant each scored a goal for Bruno in the third, while sophomore Katherine Stanton (Danville, CA) put one in during the fourth quarter.

The Bears are taking on host San Diego State and Pacific this afternoon and will then take on UC Irvine on Tuesday.